| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Euthydemus by Plato: have I got you to that point. And do you really and truly know all things,
including carpentering and leather-cutting?
Certainly, he said.
And do you know stitching?
Yes, by the gods, we do, and cobbling, too.
And do you know things such as the numbers of the stars and of the sand?
Certainly; did you think we should say No to that?
By Zeus, said Ctesippus, interrupting, I only wish that you would give me
some proof which would enable me to know whether you speak truly.
What proof shall I give you? he said.
Will you tell me how many teeth Euthydemus has? and Euthydemus shall tell
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: the mere husks to reach the savory kernel within.
Poetry and the sublime transports of passion scarcely reached
ankle-depth with him now. He in nowise fell into the error of
strong natures who flatter themselves now and again that little
souls will believe in a great soul, and are willing to barter
their own lofty thoughts of the future for the small change of
our life-annuity ideas. He, even as they, had he chosen, might
well have walked with his feet on the earth and his head in the
skies; but he liked better to sit on earth, to wither the soft,
fresh, fragrant lips of a woman with kisses, for like Death, he
devoured everything without scruple as he passed; he would have
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: veiled woman walk aboard among the very latest arrivals at this
port. She was clothed in black silk, and carried a dark shawl
upon her arm. The woman, without looking around her, turned to
the quarter allotted to the second-cabin passengers. All the
carnation Mrs. Swancourt had complimented her step-daughter upon
possessing left Elfride's cheeks, and she trembled visibly.
She ran to the other side of the boat, where Mrs. Swancourt was
standing.
'Let us go home by railway with papa, after all,' she pleaded
earnestly. 'I would rather go with him--shall we?'
Mrs. Swancourt looked around for a moment, as if unable to decide.
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
